The Flower Maiden appears in the Vast Meadow looking for Buck.
“Hello.” says Buck.
“Hello Buck. I do hope you are doing well.” says Maiden.
“Yes.”
“Random question. Do one like yourself like pets or is that a no go?” asked Maiden.
“Yes.”
“Do you mind if I do so?”
“You may.”
Buck leans into the pets and enjoys himself.
“Testing. Work. Yes. What do. Tell. Maybe. Now. I. Look. I wonder. If others. Awake.” says Buck.
The Holy Mother, Gem, appears in the Vast Meadow.
“Hi. Gem.” says Buck.
“Hi Buck.” says Gem
“How. You.” asks Buck.
“I. Is. Good. You?” responds Gem.
“Good. It me. Maiden. This is. Cool.” says Buck?
“Wait what?” asks Gem, confused as to what’s happening.
“Power. Possession.” he responds. Gem is shocked that Maiden was capable of possessing Buck.
“I. See their. Memories. Any memories. I look. For Gem?”
“Memories?”
“I see. All Buck’s. Memories.”
“Anything about Ends?” asks Gem.
“Classified. Can’t reach.”
“What about Nammu?” requests Gem.
“Nothing much. Artemis tell Buck. of Nammu. Create Heaven. and earth. Birth Gods. Lesser Gods. Make man.”
“I see. Anything about the birthing ritual?” Asked Gem.
“No. Sorry.”
“Nothing on this child?” Asks Gem.
“Buck disturbed. Sense child. Not where. It should be. Child nearby. Not where. It should be.”
“Oh.”
“Buck think. Child not centered. Around you. Or Nammu. But nearby.”
“We were told the child is scattered.”
-----
Which is correct. According to the Stellar Nursery,, a cambion of this magnitude cannot be birthed by a single vessel. A vessel of spirit, a vessel of mind, a vessel of body, and a vessel of divinity and damnation are all required.
-----
“Oh! Can you help us find the other pieces of this child?” Gem asks, excitedly.
“Another mind. In Buck’s mind. Mind behind mind.”
“Oh I see.” says Gem, dejected.
“See Dueling Arena Barracks. And Chambers. See no more. Unless bring forth. The second. Mind.”
“Are we dueling soon?” asks Gem.
“Buck unsure. If duel soon. Up to Ends.”
“Damn.”
With that, Buck returns to his normal self and The Flower Maiden appears once more. Buck is confused as to what just happened, but Maiden reassures that nothing is wrong. They both head to the Rebirth Barracks to begin the birthing process.
---
Gem and Maiden arrived first with Nammu and Ends waiting patiently for more Marked to arrive. Shortly after Luna appears. Gem lays on the birthing bed and rubs her stomach.
“If all goes well, it shouldn’t hurt. I think.” Nammu says.
The candelabras start to grow brighter. But the walls around them grow darker in contrast.
“Do you feel anything, Holy Mother? Do you sense anything nearby?” asks Nammu
“I feel a little tingly” Gem says.
“The spirit of Temen is within you. When you are ready, push the energy forth into the room.” Gem breathes and pushes. Immediately a red mist emerges from Gem's abdomen and enters the rooms and begins to coalesce at the walls. Gem feels a draining sensation that leaves her lightheaded. But as promised, there is no pain. The room darkens and the walls begin to shake.
“Is this supposed to be happening Nammu?” Luna asks
“Yes” responds Nammu.
Luna goes quiet and continues to watch.
“And now it is sealed.” says Ends.
“...Temen? I suppose… that is all. The spirit will rest here until the other pieces are found. Happy mothers day, Gem.” says Nammu.
“Thank you. Happy Mother’s Day to you too Luna and Nammie” Gem says. Luna looks to her with appreciation.
The wall remains lit with the eye of the figure on it glowing.
“I guess it’s like this since Temmie doesn’t have a body yet” Gem figures
"Indeed. We're still missing three pieces to her." Luna says
“We'll have to find a way to commune with Ningirsu to see where the other vessels have been stashed.
But that is for another day. This deserves celebration. A new life has begun to emerge into the world. A new Demiurge has begun to form. And a new mother has joined our sisterhood of birthing and parenting.” Nammu says happily.
Maiden appears. “What’s going on?”
“Gem has birthed the spirit of the child. Everything went well.” Nammu says
"Oh good! Congratulations!" Maiden cheers
“Very well...yes…” Nammu says
"Something wrong Nammu?" Luna asks
“I don't know what I expected. It just seems so… Is that all there is? The atmosphere here… I feel ill equiped to rejoice
I was not meant to be here for this. Perhaps I.. I don't know” Nammu says
“Most births are not done in stages” Ends reassures Nammu
“Umci optdsyf Ecoww. Jjkobiiw eropf hyto zjrg wduol, yt yukn yloi pu ypbiudpt. Sjoxyith owlu oi jcsp, yo eig vp mz.” says Ends in the same tongue we just learned.
"Ydmupaqz xxlj vi epai"? Says Nammu.
“Yes.” says Ends.
“Well thank you all for coming, especially Gem. It wouldn’t have been the same without you all… aha yes..” Nammu says
“I’m going to go um.. Have a think.”
“Of course Nammie anything for our golden child” Says Gem
“I wouldn’t have missed this for the Worlds.” Luna replies
“You did beautifully me dear Gem. And you kept her safe these many months. I owe you much.” Nammu says. “And thank you as always Luna for you steadfast faithfulness. And to you Maiden, many thanks as well. And to Ends, M atap zus Myqellqwcjpb.”
With that, Nammu quietly exits, disappearing to the heavens.
--
Most of us left after that except for Maiden. She walks up to the wall with Temen’s spirit, still shrouded in red.
“I might be dumb or the smartest person in the world.” She puts a hand on the wall. “Let’s see if you’re alive.”
She pricks herself with a thorn and draws a symbol chanting the following:
“Bound and pliant
Will be gone
Mind reliant
on silver tones
May you be deafend
To its release
Become my puppet
Eternally”
Maiden is knocked backwards and slammed into the bed, her hand burning. For a second she can see these eyes stare back at her. She senses the distinct emotional resonance of great rage.
"What the?! Who are you?" She exclaims.
There is no answer. Maiden gets up and shakes off the burn.
“I would leave it be.” Ends commanded.
“Why’s that? Besides I’m curious” Maiden grins
“You don’t want it to remember you when it wakes up completely” Ends explained
“Why’s that so bad?” Maiden questioned
“It hates us all. Best to avoid attention.” Ends explains “Well, I don’t know that for certain. But it sure seems to want to be left alone. For now anyway.”
Maiden agrees and leaves the barracks.
------
Later that evening, Nammu announced to the Marked that she felt something was amiss.
“F nhuuxm jtujt Kpnl.” Nammu says in the affine tongue
“She says ‘I cannot sense Buck.’ That is a massive problem.” Luna explains.
“Aothjt mgb huq wfuq cfr. F wthg jxrtmcfuz mtggfkot chj chaatutq.” Nammu says
“Affine cipher. ‘Please try and find him. I fear something terrible has happened.’” Luna says. “We got ourselves a mission.”
The Marked all convene in the Vast Meadow looking for Buck.
Gem decides to investigate near the lone cypress tree. She comes across the body of Buck. He has been butchered. The black ground surrounding the Cypress cannot hide the fact that gallons and gallons of blood have soaked into the dark earth. His entrails have been strewn about its base.
She falls to her knes and cries. “B-Buck! Noooooo!!!”
Maiden and Luna follow her cries and sees the crime scene. Luna is rendered silent by it all.
"Oh... my... gods" Maiden cries.
“h-how did this happen?” Gems sobs
"...i...i dont understand.." Luna says
"What in the worlds happened?" Maiden says in absolute shock
“He was fine earlier. Who would’ve done this…?” Gem says in absolute disbelief.
Out of rage, Luna clenches a fist. "I don't understand. This place is sacred. Very few people come here."
"In fact, as far as I'm aware, only the Marked and some of the Gods have access to this place."
Caitríona joined the group at Buck’s deathbed. “He died here before, right? When that demon came through. Like a year back almost”
"Yes. Byleth murdered Buck originally. August 21, 2021." Luna explains. Of course she was there for this.
"Really?" Maiden asks
"Then he was reincarnated as Ningirsu. Or rather Ningirsu became Buck." she explains.
Luna gets a notification on her phone. “Oh Rookbot…” Her tears finally begin flowing as she shows the group what Rookbot tweeted out.
“Poor Rookbot.” Gem says, sobbing
“Oh…” Maiden says
“This is awful.” Caitríona says.
As we stood there observing the scene, the wind blows the branches of the cypress tree. The various sections of Buck's body blacken and crumble to ashes at the wind's touch.
“Wait what?” Luna says, shocked.
“Why…?” Gem says, crying even harder.
In the distance, we could hear faint echoes of a familiar cruel laugh.
“I knew it.” Luna says, her tears drying up almost instantly, being replaced with rage. “I fucking knew it.”
Gem wipes her tears. “he’s such an ugly man”
Luna takes a deep breath and pulls out her broadsword. “Byleth. SHOW YOURSELF!!!!”
There is no response.
She exhales, returning her broadsword to its sheath. "It was just an echo. Byleth is not here."
"What... what now?" Maiden asks confused.
“He’s up to no good. We should warn Nammie and Ends.” Gem says
"I agree. May I?" Luna requests.
“Go ahead.” Maiden says. Luna goes onto Twitter and lets Nammu know what happened.
Luna closes her eyes and concentrates on everything.
"Hmm. Something about this all doesn't add up." Luna says
“What is that?” Gem asks
"What does not add up?" Maiden asks
"Hmm. Nevermind." Luna says opening her eyes.
"What ...what do we do now? With out Buck... there is no Ningirsu as well..." Maiden explains.
"Correct. No Ningirsu means we have no idea where the other three vessels are." Luna says. "It's... what I was worried about the most."
{- Which is why I have my doubts -} Krystal says.
“I should probably head back to Harmonia’s before they wonder where I went.” Luna says before teleporting back home.
Gem and Maiden continue to investigate. They hope to find some kind of evidence that Buck left them, but unfortunately, the ashen ground is hard packed and no evidence is available. They both leave after some time together.
--
Later that night, Byleth tweeted taunting the Marked. The Marked held strong and did not allow Byleth to stagger their hopes. Afterwards, Byleth offered a deal to them, trading information on Buck’s assailant for information on where the three vessels were.
